Interview with Co-founder of National Remembrance for Aborted Children
CV NEWS FEED // On September 9, Americans across the nation will take part in the National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children, a day of memorial services and prayer vigils to remember the millions of children lost through abortion.
Pro-Life Action League and Citizens for a Pro-Life Society (CPLS) started the Day of Remembrance in 2013. Monica Migliorino Miller, Ph.D., co-founder of the National Day of Remembrance and director of CPLS, spoke to CatholicVote in a phone interview.
She said the Day of Remembrance follows a movement she participated in where pro-lifers recovered fetal remains in dumpsters and gave the babies proper burials.
Miller, an associate professor of theology and religious studies at Madonna University in Livonia, Michigan, tells the story of her pro-life work—from sidewalk counseling, to sit-ins and arrests, to taking aborted baby’s bodies out of dumpsters and burying them properly—in Abandoned: The Untold Stories of the Abortion Wars.
“We learned a lot of things you never want to learn about,” said Miller.
“We were overwhelmed,” she added, describing the emotional impact of caring for the infants’ remains. “I think one of the most important aspects of these services is that it really drives home the point that abortion actually kills somebody,” Miller said, “and their bodies are real. They’re buried in human cemeteries.”
Last year’s Day of Remembrance spanned 224 locations across the United States. About 50 of them are gravesites where pro-life advocates like Dr. Miller buried the remains of babies that they took out of dumpsters.
Miller encouraged pro-life Catholics to pray and to advocate for the unborn.
“There are so many ways to be involved,” said Miller. “With an election coming up, we need to be working for the pro-life candidates. Sidewalk counseling always needs to be done. It’s, I think, the backbone of pro-life activism.”
Miller suggests that pro-lifers consider participating in Red Rose Rescue, an operation that helps women who are on the brink of choosing abortion to choose life instead. She also recommends sharing pro-life literature.
These vigils will be held at gravesites, memorials, and shrines across the nation that are dedicated to aborted children. Forty states are scheduled to host at least one memorial service. If you’re interested in hosting or attending a service, more information can be found here.
